I'm not sure I have a very interesting or original aha this week, but here's what's been popping into my mind a lot recently: Graduate school is fairly intellectually demanding, but more than anything, it takes a lot of time and a lot of attention to detail. As our projects and assignments have begun to overlap the last couple of weeks, it's clear that the single most important skill needed to stay afloat is time management.
Certainly everyone is juggling their own hectic schedules -- job(s), family, perhaps managing a household, throw in a personal crisis or two -- and grad school is but another layer of stuff draped over what takes place in real life. At some point, something must give; one must triage the most important tasks, give it their best shot, and let it be good enough. I suspect for folks who've made it this far in their educational career, that's nothing new. I also suspect that's not easy, as most folks are here because they're driven to do their best.
So, keep your heads up, 21st Century IQers . . . we're almost there.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Metzler's Week 6 Aha!
Posted by Scott at 4:02 PM
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8 comments:
Time management is definately needed when going to school. I must say I have not been doing a very good job with it recently. I am taking two classes, work full time as a project manager, and have a husband and two young kids to deal with. I have learned that two classes are way to much for me to handle and still be able to deal with what life brings everyday!
Time management is something that everyone needs whether in school or not. However since everyone in these programs are trying to balance a career and a course, you are very right....it is difficult. As each week passes I feel a little more relief....then I look at the first week in December when we have to enroll again and the cycle starts anew...
That's my struggle too! My friends who aren't in school don't seem to understand why all I do on the weekends is homework and sleep...I can't possibly find time to socialize if I want to pass my classes and keep my job. The upside is I'm almost done!
Time management is very important. I travel a lot for work, plus take care of the house when I am home for a short time, plus getting homework done for school. Sometimes it seems as if there just isn't enough time to get everything done the way I want, so you are correct. We must prioritize and do the best we can. Leave for tomorrow what can't be done today, cause stress isn't good either.
That's exactly what most employers see when they look at graduate school. It shows them that a person can cope with the stress and work load that comes with graduate school. It also a way of seeing of if a person has perseverance.
I completely agree Time Management is vital in today's world. Living a busy life and going for everything means planning and scheduling time for everything. I remember high school and how vital time management was school, work, sports, and maintaining a social lifestyle helped prepare me for today's world.
I agree, it's all about time management when you have so much going on. I know working adults like me with kids like me and work like me had to quit college becuase they did not know how to do time management.
Amen! I was just thinking about a demonstration in time management from years ago. The lecturer took a bucket of sand and set several ping pong balls on top. He described the bucket as the fixed amount of time in the day. The sand and balls were tasks to be completed during the day. But not everything fit in the 'day'.
So he took everything out, put the balls in, then poured the sand around the balls. Everything fit with room to spare. So the moral was basically, 'get the big important things done first and let the little / less important things fill in."
OK - on with the big important things!
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